Whisky Review: Pittyvaich Aged 29 Years Diageo Special Release 2019

Style: Fruity, Bread-y and Waxy

Nose:
Started with light fig jam and jelly beans taking a hint of mineral notes. Black peppercorn overtone, a big bowl of tropical fruits punch bowl stewing softly while sprite gently fizzling. Mushrooms, white flour and chalks, feeling a bit quirky here, but not in a bad way. Honeycomb and malt drizzled by fruit syrup to finish.

Palate:
Strawberry Rośe entrance, cherries, and some green cucumber at the end of the wave. Tropical fruits punch bowl continue to bubble softly at the core. Barley laying low while black pepper, nutmeg and flinty overtone marching on. Instead of stacking neatly, the elements are twisting and wrapping around each another. Now we have white bread, nougat, dried apricots and raspberry crunch scattering around, soda fizzing to give tingling texture, chilli chocolate spice burning gently at the back.

Finish:
Barley remains quite still while rose water, daiquiri and sherry red fruits unwinds nicely towards the end.

Thoughts:
Another year, another Pittyvaich, I think this is the third one in a row already. But the 2019 version feels a bit different to its predecessors, the previous ones are slightly waxier and denser whereas this Pittyvaich is relatively fruitier (if only I can do a side by side). There are still some quirky mushroom, bready and dusty notes but somehow the general tone is lifted up by a touch of light, creamy red fruits, all the thanks to the Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks. Anyway, I heard this distillery had a really bad reputation during its operation years, but perhaps after such a long time, couple with some excellent vatting skills by Diageo, there is hope after all. Life is quite unpredictable, isn’t it?